Gilding the Carbon-Fiber Lily: Koenigsegg Reveals Agera RS Gryphon

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Fans of obscure Swedish supercars, take note: Koenigsegg has a new version of its Agera RS that’s sure to blåsa din hjärna. For those not passionate enough about Swedish cars to learn another language, that means “blow your mind,” and Agera means “to act” or “star,” as in a performance. Making its debut at the Geneva auto show, this special Agera RS is called the Gryphon, a name chosen because that mythical creature appears on the flag of Skåne, the town where Koenigsegg’s factory sits. Besides being part lion, part eagle—and a name used by Saab on both aircraft and cars—the Gryphon is now a mid-engined supercar festooned with 24-carat gold-leaf body accents.

Scandinavian design is not limited to the understated, modernish look favored by contemporary Volvos and Ikea furniture, and the lingonberry is not Sweden’s most exotic product. The regular Agera RS is an ultra-expensive, flamboyant sports car, and the Gryphon displays an even more outgoing personality. The body is rendered from carbon fiber and left naked and unpainted, except that Koenigsegg slathers gold leaf on the hood struts, bits of the interior, and slices of the engine. As if the gold leaf weren’t flashy enough, rest easy: It’s applied, um, carefully by an Italian master craftsman named Ettore “Blaster” Callegaro.

Koenigsegg ensures that Gryphon buyers will never forget what they’re driving by embroidering the name in gold thread across the dashboard. There are more gold accents sprinkled about inside, too, as well as plenty of exposed carbon fiber, black anodized aluminum, black faux suede, and gold seat piping. Behind the cabin sits Koenigsegg’s 1360-hp twin-turbocharged V-8, which is charged with motivating just 3075 pounds (1395 kg) of Gryphon’d Agera RS. Koenigsegg claims the car’s power-to-weight ratio approaches 1:1, but that’s on a bizarre half-metric system mixing horsepower and kilograms that we don’t follow here. Using pounds for the weight figure instead, the Gryphon carries a still impressively thin 2.3 pounds per horsepower.

The Gryphon is supposedly on its way to the United States, where it will be fully compliant for road use and even include an onboard data connection, a front- and rear-axle lift system for clearing steep driveways and speed bumps, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and a removable hardtop. We think the sports car looks incredible with its bare carbon-fiber body punctuated by thin slashes of gold leaf, and who can argue against 1360 horsepower? No prices have been given out so far, but regular Koenigseggs are expensive toys even before you start splashing gold all over them. Call it about $2 million, and you won’t be off by more than a few hundred grand one way or the other.